Kaniz & Abbas +2

I think I've said this before, but Samarah is at a really fun age right now.. it's hard to describe the feeling I get to see the sheer joy on Samarah's face when she manages to stand on her own (albeit leaning on something), take a hesitant step, grab a toy (or my face) or even the simple act of making eye contact. Kaniz and I truly feel blessed to have been gifted such a happy soul! It's been a while since I've posted videos, so thought I'd share a few of the more recent ones so you can see Samarah in action. In the first video, shot in mid-December, you'll see Samarah having a great time with her walker: Over the past few weeks, I've really noticed a huge increase in Samarah's capacity to learn - whether it's mimicking the sounds we make, playing with her toys, earnestly turning pages during storytime and even figuring out all the bait-and-switch games we play to get her to eat her dinner! One of her latest tricks is clapping! She's pretty ...

I can't believe that 2008 is already over. It's been an incredible year, and lots of exciting things to look forward to in 2009. One thing I'm not looking forward to is going back to work! I'm so dreading that day...March 3rd...it get's closer every second!! With me back at work, Samarah will be going to daycare, and I'm sure ear infections, colds, runny noses, etc. will follow soon after. Things have been hectic as usual - in addition to holiday get togethers, friends visiting, etc., we've also been busy with spending our evenings at the mosque over the last two weeks. So Samarah's schedule has been thrown off a bit as she's still napping twice a day but when we're out, it's usually out of the question. She's getting very very distracted these days when I nurse her so I'm beginning the weaning process.  We're in the bib-protesting phase, the stroller protesting phase and the car seat protesting phase. Unless she's distracte...